After Deidara
by Dark Palace of Waterfalls
Summary: One could get to a point that doing anything would bring meaning to one's life. Doesn't matter if the one you worship is good or evil, it's just about not living in vain. May God forgive us all for our sins, but that's the reason we are not alone and forlorn inside our own world.
1. Chapter 1

Whoever would pass by and see Masaki couldn't help but realize he was really down. Masaki was still sitting on a wooden bench scratching his legs with the kunai he was so tightly clutching in his right hand. With his frowning forehead, he was completely deep into his thoughts, staring at his shaking knees. Two women were walking nearby him and stared at his gloomy figure, wondering what is the kind of thing that can make someone look so bad. Well many things can make one breakdown, but in Masaki's case, there were plenty of reasons why he was so saddened.

The clerk opened the door with his shoulders, for his hands were very busy carrying all those heavy boxes. Masaki could only see his hair and his high boots moving towards him.

"Thank you so much, Satoshi.".

"Thanking me will do no good, my boy, now paying me will.".

"How are the business going?".

"Ah, not so good as usual, but I'm carrying on, you know...".

"I'll take that as an yes. Anyway, is everything I asked in there?".

"Haha, sure is. It took me quite some time to get all those items, but since you were willing to pay me well, it was no problem, my boy.".

"Well, nice. I think you really deserve payment, huh?".

"Now that's the reason I'm here. C'mon, hand me your cash.".

Masaki took an old yellowish envelope out of his pocket and gave it to Satoshi.

"What the hell is up with this envelope, my boy?".

"Since there is a lot of money inside it, I took this old envelope as a disguise for you. See? I worry about you, haha".

"Nah don't lie to me, my boy, you are messed up. Anyway, don't be a stranger now.".

"Ok, see ya.".

Masaki had quite an effort trying to take all those boxes to his apartment without dropping them all over. He was used not to take the stairs up to his place, he thought it was much more fun jump from roof to roof, but those boxes turned this easy task on a total hassle.

It couldn't be helped, everytime Masaki would speak with the old Satoshi he would feel really good, for he was always such a cheerful man. Even when he lost his mother, he recovered really quickly from the mourning time, for he knew she wouldn't want to see him so depressed, so he ignored the enshrouding sadness that was beginning to cover his soul and smiled, smiled and drove away all the pain. Masaki was now feeling better, but coundn't just ignore his feelings, slowly torturing his mind.

After jumping through his windowpane and dropping all those boxes open on the floor, he layed down in the couch and slept for long ten hours. He was so tired that he didn't bother taking a shower, brushing his teeth, changing clothes and then healthly laying over his messed up bed to finally fall asleep.

Although with the body energy renewed, Masaki woke up with an annoying neck pain. He was not used to sleep in the couch (no one should). It was nighttime and he had a lot of free time, for he had already finished all the stuff he had to do, so he decided to take a look around the village as he usually does when boredom would flood his brain. The Village Hidden in the Grass was so peaceful in the night: the stars would always shine so peacefully, the moon was high above some few clouds, glowing with its beautiful light, the quiet and mysterious owls would stand still over the trees and far away in the horizon you could see nothing but the wind blowing in the shaking leaves of the forest. It was a beautiful sight indeed.

Masaki was enjoying the fresh air cleaning his lungs as he walked a trail that he would follow to get to his favorite spot: under an apple tree. He was used to be there in nights like this. He always enjoyed the ambience spring time would bring under that tree. He would lay down, rest his bones, think about life and sometimes even sleep. One day, after coming back from a mission with his eyes covered with a bandage (they were poisoned), he woke up and thought he was in his regular bed, but then he felt his body covered with leaves and remembered he was under his favorite tree. Surprisingly, he woke up in a good mood, he was even feeling his eyes getting better.

He sat down there feeling better than he was in the morning. He was no longer feeling lonely, although still being alone. That is the power of nature, the power to heal our pain and give us strength to keep going. After ten minutes of mesmerizingly being in his place, a noise he heard far away took him off of his peace of mind. He tried to ignore it, but those loud sounds wouldn't stop. He decided to go check it out.

Jumping over the trees' branches with a kunai in his hand, he was seeking the source of the noise. "Is it a shinobi brawl?" _ he wondered rushing over. He got close to where the noises were coming from, and decided to keep away in order not to get involved. He felt the smell of smoke, something was definetely burning. There they were, two shinobi fighting. He didn't recognize any them, so he decided it would be better not to get involved.

" You fool, that's what happen when you mock my art, hmpfh.".

"Why, you... Argh, take that, you stupid brat!".

"Hahaha, that was pathetic. You disgusting excuse for a ninja, how dared you talked down to me like that? You don't look so though now, huh?".

The blonde guy took out of under his cloak something white that Masaki couldn't recognize, mixed it with his hands and threw some bombs white-spider shaped bombs at the other guy, whose clothes were all bloody and covered by ashes. That white thing exploded and finished the guy for good, that fell from the tree with his clothing on flames.

"Haha, now you'll never forget about me." _said the cloak-wearing guy jumping to the floor and walking towards the fallen corpse. "Now you'll respect my noble art forever, hmpfh.".

"What is going on here anyway? Ah, doesn't matter, I shall not involded, but I'm going to warn the people in the village right now, they might be in danger".

The guy fell on his knees in pain moaning, making sure to Masaki he also got damaged in that battle. He was acting though in front of the other guy, but now that he was dead, he could take off his tough-guy disguise. He mixed more of his white stuff with the shape of birds and made they extinguish the fire. The weird-looking white birds were fastly flying all over the flaming trees. One of the birds even got a little closer to Masaki, but he didn't got too worried because he thought they were just part of some kind of ninjutsu, not real birds.

After the fire was completely extinguished and there were just some ashes, the guy said with a surprisingly calm and dull voice:

"You want some too? Show yourself already...".

Masaki's heart almost popped out of his mouth. He thought his presence was still unknown to that guy. He showed himself without saying anything. "Although tired and wounded, this guy seems to be really strong. I must be careful and run away if things turn out to be dangerous. I also have no idea of what kind of ninjutsu this guy uses, so I better not get too close".

"So who are you? " _said the guy holding his arm.

"I'm Masaki from the Grass. And who is that guy you just killed?" _ said Masaki trying to act tough and fearless.

"It's none of your business. And if you don't want to die as well, I suggest you...".

He stop talking and screamed holding his left forearm.

"What the... is that a... another mouth?". Masaki couldn't help but try to see what that weird guy had in the palm of his hand. "Both hands, how creepy is that".

It was too late to run away, if Masaki would try to run away he would lead the blonde guy straight to the village, so if he wanted to fight, he would have no choice now.

"I must know whether you are an enemy or not. So tell me, who are you?".

"If you are friends with that guy, then you are dead already, hmpfh.".

"I'm not.". _said Masaki lowering his kunai that he was pointing in the three-mouthed guy's direction. _ Tell me, what do you want from the our village?

"I... I w..." _he passed out on the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

"Well, it that the best thing I can do now is to leave this guy alone there. As don't know him I won't feel any guilt at all. No one needs to know I've been here.".

Why would Masaki try to help a stranger anyway? This guy might even be wanted by the Grass people. He looked all around the trees, and as he realized none of them were still on fire, he went away.

Masaki was still bothered by the fact that guy had three mouths, why was that anyway? People with one mouth only have been living well with it for so long, so having three was such a waste, as Masaki thought. Then he remembered he mixed the white thing with his hands that exploded, so the "white thing" was probably his way of attacking.

"If he comes after me to fight I'll be ready, my water style jutsus would make his bombs useless. Now I better go warn the..."

All of a sudden, many kunais, two of them equipped with paper-bombs, went towards him. Masaki dodged them and got away for the explosion about to strike. He knew the blonde guy didn't need paper-bombs in order to explode stuff, so he begun to wonder who were the ones attacking him. What if the Grass shinobi would think he betrayed the village and was helping that outsider? Would he be considered a rogue-ninja by the people of his own village? Well, he didn't have much time to think, for he really busy with the battle that was bound to begin.

"What you guys want? Show yourselves!".

And then, three shinobi from the Village Hidden in the Mist jumped onto a tree in front of the one Masaki was standing at holding his kunai. Masaki never even met Mist guys, knew almost nothing about their village, "So what do they want from me?".

One of the guys said:

"That's him, he was the one helping Deidara to kill our allies. Let's get him".

"So they think I was helping that Deidara guy, huh? This is just a misunderstanding, I just have to explain myself, they'll leave me alone then". How wrong Masaki was. It seemed the Mist shinobi were looking for an excuse to get in a fight, and that was a good one. Masaki tried to explain what really happened, but they wouldn't listen to him.

"You guys go get Deidara, I'll deal with this little girl here.". _said the masked girl, who seemed to be the leader of the group.

"You be careful, Kyuura.".

"I will. Now go.".

Both of them left us alone. It was inevitable, Masaki couldn't avoid a fight now. He had no choice but to deal with her, they didn't want to believe his story after all.

"We don't have to do this. I'm not the enemy of your Hidden Mist Village.".

"So it seems the little girl is frightened, isn't it?".

Waving her hand signs: "Fire ball jutsu". A huge amount of fire came out of her mouth burning the trees all over the place. It seemed she was a fire style user. That made Masaki feel much more confident, for all his jutsus were water style ones.

"So you use fire style, don't you?" _said Masaki after dodging the flames. Now he was longer pretending to be confident, he really was now. Water style ninja have a great advantage against fire ninja.

"Damn you. I don't need ninjutsu to destroy you.".

"You shoudn't be so confident, what will you do if I beat you down? And I will!".

"Aaaargh, shut up. That will never happen.".

Masaki while dodging her taijutsu and fire style ninjutsu, was secretely placing traps all over the place. Without Kyuura realizing it, he placed many lines that activate paper-bombs, that if touched would get rid of her for good. If it didn't work, the traps would work as distraction for Masaki's water prison jutsu.

Luring Kyuura towards the ambush, Masaki was trying his hardest not to touch any of the lines placed. He even got his leg scratched by one of Kyuura's kunai, but he didn't care, he thought he was almost finishing her down, and it was worth it. He took quite a distance from the ambush, and when her opponent finally was standing over it, he threw a kunei at one of the lines and boom!

Kyuura was laying on the ground. Masaki walked towards her, and thinking out loud he went: _Such a pity I had to kill her. She had nothing to do with, if only she was a little less stubborn.

But something was still bothering him: the other two Mist shinobi and the the blonde guy, whose name probably was Deidara. What are they up to, wondered Masaki.

Now there was nothing Masaki could do to avoid any further mayhem, he was involved now, and the Mist shinobi saw his face. He decided to go after the two remaining shinobi and the blonde guy they were hunting, for a reason still unknown to him. He went back his way to where he left Deidara lying on the ground.

"Why am I doing this anyway? I don't even know those guys. I really should go back to the village and warn the people about these ongoing fights, but still, something bothers me... I... I...".

"You Mist shinobi are no match for me, hmpfh.".

"Hold it a bit longer, soon Kyuura will be back. Let's just avoid his bombs by hiding behind those trees...".

Then Masaki came, and with a loud and proud voice, said:

"I don't think she'll be back for a while, you Mist shinobi. How dared you underestimate me?".

Both Deidara and the Mist shinobi stopped the fightning to look at Masaki's epic-trying-to-look arrival.

Fighting would always make Masaki feel good, perhaps the adrenaline makes your feelings like, sadness, loneliness, etc go away for a while, for in the middle of a serious battle, trying to survive always comes in number on. About anger, it is a bad feeling alright, but it can make one become more dangerous than he/she really is.

Masaki still didn't know what he was there for. But he was willing to know how all this troublesome situation would end up like.

"You again." _said Deidara with a surprised voice.

"Deidara, you go after the red-haired guy, I'll get the other one.".

"I don't need your help, I can deal with them by myself.".

"Stop trying to act tough, let's do it, those guys also want my head chopped off.".

"Ha, you are not but a weakling, Masaki. Let's go.".

Masaki was able to capture the shinobi he was fighting with his water prison jutsu. Now all he had to do is finish him off. He knew he had to, if he didn't, those shinobi guys would chase him forever. He had to kill him.

"Deidara he's under my jutsu, help me here to finish him off.".

"Don't order me around, you fool.".

"Just do it!"

Deidara, avoid the red-haired guy's attacks, mixed some of that material he carries with himself and made some fishes-shaped bombs.

"There you go. Tell me when to detonate them, and don't get yourself killed, you fool." _said Deidara, throwing some small white fishes to Masaki, that grabbed them with his left hand.

"Those are gonna be small explosions, place the bombs near this guy's head.".

Masaki putted them inside the water prison and he was ready to finish his opponent.

"No, please, we don't have to do it, please." _said the guy that was about to die.

"It's too late, you guys attacked me. Deidara, now, detonate the bombs.".

"Now!".

And boom, the small explosion turned the water prison red. The Mist shinobi was dead.

"Nice one, now let's just finish the other one.".

It didn't take long for Deidara and Masaki to put an end to that battle. The other guy died just like his friend, inside a bloody water bubble.


	3. Chapter 3

Both Masaki and Deidara were sitting around a bonfire cooking some fishes with vegetables. They also found some pineapples. Deidara took out of his pocket some clay he was about to mix for God-knows-why.

"Deidara, what are you doing?".

"I'm gonna peel of the skin of those pineapples, hmpfh. See? I can even use my art for cooking purposes, haha.".

"Amazing! I wish I could do that...".

Deidara mixed some clay into the shape of tiny ants, and putted them all over one of the pineapples.

"Get ready. Now!".

And boom! The pineapple was... hmmmm, I don't know if I should say it's skin was indeed peeled off or the whole fruit was completely destroyed. And Deidara's hair and his Akatsuki cloak were now probably tasting like pineapple juice.

"Whooops, sorry. Haha, a bit too explosive." _said Deidara scratching his head in shame.

Both of them laughed a lot.

...

"It's such a pity Sasori can't eat, huh? It must be really weird to be inside a puppet all the time." _said Deidara with a mouthful of roasted fish.

"It was his choice. But if you think of it, technically he's immortal, which makes him someone to be cereful with, if you are his enemy.".

"Oh boy, sometimes I can't understand him, it seems nothing we do makes him grateful, he's always so "straight-to-business" that he can't relax, hmpfh.".

"I agree. But that's good if you think of it, because we have never had problem with unfinished stuff. He may sound harsh sometimes, but he only wishes for our best. I really respect him.".

"Ha, me either.".

That was such a beautiful sight: a bonfire at the top of the hill, the orange-painted sunset sky, and down there, a quiet and peaceful river passing by.

"Deidara, look at that river.".

"Yeah, what?".

"I just love it. I wish I could slide all over it and see where it ends.".

"Into another river, then the sea, I guess...".

"Yeah, I know. But I'm talking about the path that leads to wherever it ends. The refreshing warmth, the peaceful flow of water symphony, all the wild creatures singing, swimming fishes, flying birds... it's so beautiful.".

"Yeah, yeah, but it's not more beautiful than my undefeatable explosive art, hmpfh.".

"But your art is ninjutsu, and nature... nature is the source of everything.".

"What? Are you underestimating my art? My ar...".

"Hey, calm down, Deidara. You art is so amazing that only you have mastered it, I really respect and admire it, but...".

"Really...? Well, I know, right? My art is indeed amazing, hmpfh.".

"Yeah, what I meant is that your art is an example of how strong and beautiful our Mother Nature can be.".

...

Two hours have passed by and Sasori still haven't arrived. Both of them were beginning to get worried, for Sasori didn't like to wait for a long time nor keep people waiting. It was nighttime now. Both Masaki and Deidara were sitting under a tree without knowing what to do. If Sasori was this late, it meant he was in real trouble.

"We really should look for Sasori now, Masaki.".

"I've been thinking about it, and came to realize that it would be useless. The last time we met him was 3 days ago, then he told us to be here in the sunset. But then, he hasn't come yet.".

"Hmpfh, what should we do then?".

Deidara and Masaki decided that it would be better to go back to their hideout and wait for Sasori.

Masaki was going back to his room and couldn't help but see... Deidara bathing in the small lake there was inside the cave they were in. He hid himself behind a door and spied him. He was really surprised, he had never seen another person but himself without any clothing. He thought Deidara looked so cute with his wet blondy hair, and even looked like a woman.

...

"Come here, Masaki, I need to show you something.".

"What is it?".

"See all this clay? That's what I use to create my explosives. I can mix my clay with other things, but it makes it less effective, hmpfh.".

"Well, that's nice, but what's the point of showing me this?".

"Yesterday I was trying out some different ways of improving my clay, and I found out something...".

"To improve your explosions? Deidara, as Sasori is always saying, you must be careful with those things, if you act careless, you may end up harming yourself. But anyway, how can you do it?".

"I released a huge amount of chakra into some clay, I did it over and over again until the clay become something near chakra itself. When I mixed that clay into bombs, their explosions were so amazingly strong. It was the pure meaning of art.".

"An explosion even bigger than the ones you already do? That's so amazing. If that's so, perhaps I could help you...".

"Yes, that's what I'm here for, to ask for your help.".

"Of course, you can always count on me. If you need me to improve your clay, I can do it with all my chakra until I get exhausted, then after resting, I can keep on. But you would always have to watch out for me, for I would be defenseless all the time.".

Deidara went towards Masaki and hugged him very tightly. Masaki felt really happy. To feel their bodies touching like that made him want to stay like that forever. The smell and softness of Deidara's hair drove him mesmerized for some seconds, the safety he felt by being with him made those the best seconds of his life.

Masaki have never been loved. His father died when he was just about three and his mother has always been hard on him, he never understood why. That made him a really lonely person. In his entire childhood, he would wander alone the forests nearby the Grass Village, wishing he had someone to be beside him forever.


	4. Chapter 4

Masaki after waking up and having breakfast went to a room, whose floor was covered with many barrels of clay. He decided to help Deidara to improve his clay by mixing them with his chakra, what would improve the strength of his explosions. He spent a lot of time working on this with good will, for he really wanted to help Deidara, to be useful to him, to be by his side whatever would happen.

After his chakra was over, he decided to rest in the lake. To feel the water surrounding his body was like an spiritual therapy to him, he felt like nature itself was caressing his body. All the submerged things looked so beautiful to Masaki. He was born a human being, but deep in his heart, he was a water creature.

Masaki was also working on something else: a hideout inside his hideout. It wasn't completely ready, but could be used already. It was a secret hole where one could hide without being detected even by sensory type ninjas, it was a place inaccessible to anybody that didn't know its secret-passage. The "first" hideout was a wooden cottage Masaki built under a submerged cave, which one only could access by plunging deep into a river. It wasn't too close, yet not so far away from the Grass Village. And the even more secret hideout was pretty much like the other one, but you had dive straight near a stone, move it then access a small hole that could barely fit one single person.

...

"Deidara, did you hear that?".

"Huh? What are you talking about? I can't hear anything.".

"Someone's coming, I heard the noise.".

"What? The only one that knows about this place is Sasori. There's no way the Mist shinobi found us here.".

"Since three days ago they've been following us like our own shadows.".

"But...".

"Quick, we must hide.".

"What? What are you talking about? We are already hidden, if someone find us, we have no choice but to face the enemy right away, hmpfh.".

"Just come!".

Masaki led Deidara to his other even-more-hidden hideout. Both of them dived into the water and moved that rock that covered a hole. Masaki pointed his fingers, meaning to tell Deidara to go first. When both of them were inside, Masaki moved the rock and covered themselves hidden.

Just their necks and heads were not covered by water, and they couldn't stay there much longer without going out of oxygen. They also could barely move, for the hole was really small.

"What are we gonna do?" _asked Masaki whispering near Deidara's head.

"I think we must wait and see what happens, hmpfh.".

Masaki and Deidara's bodies were touching again. Masaki felt pretty much like when Deidara hugged him for accepting to help with his special clay. Although blinded by the darkness, Masaki was enjoying so much Deidara's presence, he was even smiling of joy for feeling Deidara's breath fanning his wet face. They were so close that Masaki felt like they were one. "I wish we could stay like this forever. It's such a pity I can't hug him now without being really awkward".

They heard steps. They were getting closer. Someone was definetely there.

"Deidara, I don't believe whoever is up there will find us, but there might be an impending battle coming." _said Masaki whispering while taking out of his bag a kunai.

And then, someone yelled:

"Damn you guys, why aren't you here?"

"Is it Sasori?" _asked Masaki.

"Yeah, sounds like. Wait. Be quiet.".

"Where are you guys, you told me you would be here? Deidara, Masaki!".

"It's definetely him. Let's go.".

Both of them swam back out of the hole. Deidara went out first, Masaki spent about ten more seconds to cover the hole again with the moving rock.

...

"Sasori, my man, you've finally come, hmpfh.".

"Yeah, we thought something bad had happened to you.".

"I really hate to say this, but I'm sorry I kept you waiting for such long time. I went through real problems.".

"Don't apologize, we're glad everything is alright now.".

"Not really. By the way, what were you two doing swimming like playing little children?".

"Masaki you tell him, hmpfh.".

"It's a hole we can hide without being detected. I designed it to out of the reach of even sensory type shinobi. You might want to check it out."

"Not now, I must repair my armor.".

"What happened with it, my man?".

"The Mist shinobi... they are causing a lot of problems.".

"Sorry to ask, Sasori, but you didn't poison the water on your way to this place, right?" _asked Masaki worried about Sasori's deathly poison he always carried within his puppets.

"I'm not a fool to the point of spilling poison wherever I go. If I did that, the Mist shinobi might find my trail and cause us real problem.".


	5. Chapter 5

After Masaki, Deidara and Sasori got rid of the last group of Mist shinobi following them...

"Sasori, my good man, you have to tell us about this. You are always so quiet and mysterious, hmpfh.".

"I cannot tell it to you guys right now. I'll be back in four days. By the way, Deidara and Masaki, have you been training your water and earth style combo?".

"Hm, like, yes, sort of... it's just that..."

"No more excuses, Masaki. You both must master this jutsu as soon as possible. I hope that when I come back you guys will be doing it alright.".

"No worries my man, it's just that we've been too busy these days. But we'll do it. Oh, by the way, we hope this time you'll come back in time. You always say you don't like to keep people waiting, hmpfh.".

Sasori became really annoyed after Deidara said that and tried to attack him with his poisonous tail. And with loudest voice he could make, he yelled at Deidara:

"I have already told you that I went through real hardships that time. If you say such a thing again, I'll kill both of you."

"He-hey, please calm down, Sasori. We are sure you'll be okay by yourself, and when you come back, we'll have mastered that jutsu for sure. Please don't be angry, it's all going to be alright." _said Masaki trying to improve Sasori's mood.

Without saying anything else, Sasori quietly left their submerged hideout leaving them alone again.

"He's always the same, hmpfh.".

"Today after I improve some more of your clay and take a quick rest, we are going to go out and train, okay? We don't want to make Sasori go mad at us again.".

"Nah, I don't he was too serious about killing us, but, oh well...".

Masaki went to the room Deidara's clay was stored and began another improving-with-chakra-Deidara's-clay-session. Then he layed on his bed for two hours in order to take a rest and both of them headed to the the woods to train.

...

After six hours of relentless training, both of them headed to Masaki's apartment at the Grass Village.

"Hmmm, Deidara, you really should not walk the streets with this cloak, you know, people might recognize the Akatsuki symbol."

"Whatever, I'm not afraid of these Grass shinobi, hmpfh.".

"Yeah, but this is the place I live, so... do it for me, will you? Hehe." _said Masaki scratching his head.

Deidara took of his cloak and hid it inside his bag, which he could barely keep on carrying by the way, for he was really tired.

"See? Now you we can walk in peace. No people staring at us.".

"Who cares anyway, I still posses the greatest form of art with me, hmpfh."

...

Masaki and Deidara when got into their room, each one lay on their bed without even unpacking, because they were totally exhausted. They spent the whole day training a ninjutsu combo that uses Masaki's water style and Deidara's earth style bombs.

"Oh, man, I don't feel like doing anything but to sleep now" _said Deidara, with his voice sounding like an extended yawn.

"Same goes for me. But I won't sleep yet, because... you know, somebody's gotta cook here... and it would be pretty nice if someone... willing to do so... would help me...".

"Haha, I'm not touching the pans, hmpfh. Good luck with it, bro.". _said Deidara changing the position he was lying in his bed and putting his head under his pillow.

"You think I'm not tired, don't you?".

"C'mon, I can help you next time, it's just that I'm so lazy right now that I think I couldn't even leave this bed... it's so comfy in here, hmpfh.".

Masaki opened one of the bags they were carrying to look for food. There wasn't much to eat in there: just a small bag of rice, some vegetables they got when hunting at the forest and bottles of water.

"Oh Deidara, it's no good, we've not much left to eat in here." _said Masaki with an unhappy and lazy voice.

"Go buy it then, there must be some stores nearby for sure, hmpfh." _said Deidara with his head still under his pillow, but now, also his body body was covered, by Masaki's smiling cats pattern blanket.

"Really? You're kidding right, won't you even say "please"?".

Deidara said something Masaki could barely hear, for his voice was low and coming from under the pillow. It was no good, trying to talk to Deidara now would only drive him annoyed. Masaki thought it would be better to leave by himself to buy some food and allow Deidara to sleep in peace. He was also very tired, but his will to help Deidara was stronger.

"Ok, now I have plenty of time to prepare a wonderful meal to him. He'll love it for sure." _though Masaki while checking out how much money he had left.

...

Before buying the ingredients, he decided to go buy a recipe book at Satoshi's General Store. He have been wanting to do this for a while, but didn't have the chance. Masaki tried to sound as if he really wasn't feeling like cooking for Deidara, but he was, he totally was, he couldn't even hide his smiles of excitment when leaving his front door.

"I'll prepare the most delicious food he'll ever taste. He'll be so happy..." _thought Masaki closing his door.

At Satoshi's store:

"Hey there, Satoshi. What's going on?".

"Hiya, come in my boy. Dear God, Masaki, your hair has definetely grown, huh?";

"Oh, you know, I like it like this".

"Now that I think of it, if I didn't know you and would see you passing by, I'd think you are a girl!".

"What? That's not true, I mean, men can also have long hair, you know. Anyway, I'm here to buy a recipe book".

"You? Cooking? That's really nice, but why that all of a sudden, my boy?".

"We all gotta learn it sometime, you know, it's part of becoming a real adult.".

"Hmmmm, that's weird, you grow your hair like that, tries to learn some cooking, what's next then?".

"Whoa, what you mean by that? I don't get it.".

"Haha, just to warn you, my boy, I don't sell makeup here, hahahaha!".

"Eeeek, stop that, Satoshi, it's no fun at all. Anyway, what have you got there?"

Satoshi thinking out loud was looking for a good recipes book for Masaki.

"Here you go, I got this last year, I even forgot I had it, hehe".

Masaki grabbed the book in hands and thought to himself: "Oh my god the book cover is sooooo cute, I wish I could show this to Deidara, he'd love it too, but I mustn't allow him to acknowledge my efforts on working so well for him. I'll keep this a secret then".

The book was indeed cute. There were plenty of smiling white bunnies clutching vegetables, cakes, fruits in their tiny paws. It said "The Art of Cooking, hosted by "The Bunny", with color and cheerful letters.

"Here you go, thanks, sir." _said Masaki giving the Satoshi some money.

"Alright, my boy, don't be a stranger.".

And once again, Masaki's mood improve by talking to Satoshi, he was such a funny and nice man. "Now all that I need are the ingredients. If I buy them at Satoshi's store, he will make fun of me. Oh well, better go somewhere else then.".


	6. Chapter 6

Masaki sitted on a bench(not the one close to Satoshi's store, he might see him reading the book, which would make him get kind of ashamed) and opened it. Although tired, he was having a lot of fun doing that. "So, what, would Deidara like to eat?" ... "Oh my god, so many good options here that I can't decide". He went back to page number two to read the summary again. "I think I'll just prepare a simple meal that no one could possibly dislike and a dessert."... "strawberry pie and... oh, orange juice, of course, everybody likes orange juice, hehe.".

He went to another local market and bought a lot of things. He went back to his apartment carrying three bags of food. "Well, I think that's enough. Ok, now I gotta make all this food taste well, but, "The Bunny" will help me, won't you, Bunny?".

Yes, "The Bunny" was going to show him how to prepare the food, but that didn't mean the outcome would be the greatest, for Masaki has always been clumsy when it comes to cooking, he would always forget the pans overheating at the stove and come back only when the smell of burning food would flood the entire house. "No, no, no, today will be different, I'll do everything alright this time. I can't wait to see Deidara's face when he wakes up with the delicious scent of my food. Isn't that right, Bunny?". "Yes, it will be." _said Masaki trying to sound like a little bunny (anyway, how does bunnies sound like?).

...

Chop... chop... chop...

Masaki prepared a wonderful and very good-tasting vegetables soup he would serve with small melon breads and a strawberry pie.

"Whoa, there's like food for four people to eat in here. Anyway, I mustn't allow Deidara to see all this food, or this will look really awkward. Now that I think of it, this already is totally awkward, he's sleeping in my living room and I'm here cooking trying not to fall asleep...".

And as expected, the kitchen was a total mess, but at least, the smell coming from the stove was quite good. The meal was almost ready and Masaki began to wonder whether or not to wake Deidara up, for recent made food always tastes better, but in the other hand, it would be really harsh to wake up someone so tired just for food.

Masaki was alone at the table in his kitchen. The recipes book was beside him, as well as a glass of orange juice and a small slice of strawberry pie. "C'mon, Deidara, wake up already and come taste my food, you'll love it." _thought Masaki. His eyes were getting really heavy, he was out of appetite, then he layed his head in the table and began to wonder what would be Deidara's reaction when he would see all the stuff he prepared for them... would he... l... Zzzzzzz... Masaki fell asleep.

...

After nine hours of sleeping Deidara woke up with a loud yawn:

"Hey, Masaki, what's up with this smell?".

He took the blanket off and got up. When he entered the kitchen he saw Masaki asleep at the table.

"Gotta be kidding me. Hey, wake up, this is no place to be sleeping, hmpfh.".

But Masaki was really tired, so he remained still. Deidara got a plate of vegetables soup and reheated it to eat, poured a little of orange juice in a glass and sitted on the chair in front of Masaki.

"Like it or not, I'll wake you up, hmpfh.".

Deidara pushed Masaki's head a little with two fingers in order to wake him up. Masaki woke up as if he just had a terrible nightmare.

"Hey, Masaki, if you don't sleep well you are gonna get tired quickly, hmpfh." _said Deidara sighing loudly.

"Oh, god, what time is it?".

"Seven o'clock. By the way, for how long have you been sleeping like this?".

"There's no problem, I'll will not get tired quickly, haha, I'm alright. Anyway, I have been cooking and ended up... like this. Hey, Try out my strawberry pie, it's amazing, haha." _said Masaki pretending to be full of energy.

"Masaki this is no joke, a real shinobi takes good care of himself, and sleeping well is really important, hmpfh.".

Deidara was wondering what would that book beside Masaki be about.

"Hey, what is that you've been reading?".

"Er, kinda like, ah, doesn't matter, hehe".

"Oh, is that what I think it is, hmpfh? C'mon Masaki, you don't have to be ashamed...".

Masaki got really slightly red in the face and stopped him from talking any longer, or he would feel even worse:

"Hey, it's nothing like that, it's just a recipes book.".

"Don't lie, haha, lemme see it.".

"Argh, take it.".

Masaki handed the book to Deidara feeling really awkward.

"See, nothing to be ashamed of, I was trying to learn how to cook, you know.".

"What is th... The ART, the ART, ART... of... cooking? By a BUNNY? What in the world is THIS?".

"That's why I didn't want to show you, you'd mock me.". Masaki couldn't help but feel bad. "Oh, I didn't think he would get angry just because it says cooking is a art. Damn, I should've hid the book" _thought Masaki feeling nervous.

"I'm not mocking you, hahaha, I'm mocking the book, it's so, pathetic, haha. The ART of cooking? Hmpfh, gotta be kidding me.".

"I know, right? I mean, I just wanted to learn some new recipes, that's why I bought the book.".

"Hey, wait, now that I think of it, how awesome do you think it would be to cook with explosions? Hahaha, now that would be worth writing about, Masaki. Haha." _said Deidara. It seemed he was having a lot of fun, which made Masaki feel better.

"Anyway, I'm going to sleep a bit more. Then I can take care of some of your clay and... whatever.".

"Oh boy, I just woke up and now you are going to sleep? Whatever, enjoy it...".

Masaki was glad the house wasn't on fire because of his lack of cooking skills or because Deidara would try to cook with explosions. So he decided to go to sleep... in a real bed now, of course.

"By the way, Masaki, this is awesome.".

"What you mean?".

"Ha, you cook well. Anyway, it's sleeping time for you now...".

"Thanks, I'm glad you liked it...".

Masaki went to his room and slept really well. He had a really weird dream: he was a bunny with giant ears and Deidara was trying to cook him with his clay explosions...


End file.
